A Place to Belong
by RedWords
Summary: Riley has been in Forks for less than a year and has hurt herself multiple times, a pair of cold arms saving her life everytime. When a new semester starts, she finds herself with Edward Cullen as a Chemistry partner, suspecting him to be something else
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

My mind drifts while Mr. Lightwood discusses an algebra problem that no one understood. Out of all the things I could be thinking of, I think of the Cullens. The Cullens are the one family in this entire town of Forks with a secret. I just know it. No one is sure where they live or who they really are. I want to find out who they are.

No. No I am not going to ruin everything like I did last time.

"Ms. Riley, answer my question."

Mr. Lightwood's voice pulls me back into reality. "Hmm…?"

"Ah…this is why you should listen to me while I'm speaking. Now, do you have an answer, or would you like to admit that you were daydreaming?"

After taking note of the page number on the board and the amount of time left in class before the bell rings to signal lunch, I say, "The answer is three hundred and sixty-seven over negative eight p."

The classroom falls silent, everyone waiting for Mr. Lightwood to say I am wrong. How would they know though? No one knew how to work the problem and get the correct answer…no one except me.

"Oh, that's correct."

These are the positives of having a photographic memory. Every time a new school year begins and we are passed around texts books and reading lists, I look at every page of each of the books, and if it is something with questions, I write the correct answer under each of the problems.

A familiar feeling of being stared at comes over me. I am always being stared at when I defy the odds and answer a question correctly without hearing the actual question. Mainly, the eyes that stare at me are the Cullens'. "Freaks staring at a freak," as some of my least favorite people would say.

Exactly 0.003 milliseconds before the bell rings, I stand from my seat at my desk. I have my school days timed out perfectly.

…

My eyes drift around the lunch room, searching for an open seat.

"Hey freak, why not just go away?" The owner of the voice says just before shoving me, causing my three dollar lunch to spill across the floor.

I turn and look up at the jock standing behind me, a football jersey draped over him. I look past the blockhead, looking at the reflection of his jersey on a metal door. Jesse Grayson.

"What are you looking at you freak? See a dead person?"

A smirk twitches onto my lips while I shine my one shield to protect myself from others. "You know, I always thought Jesse was a girl's name. It looks like I was right."

The cafeteria fills with laughter and other comments.

Jesse gulps and shakes his head. "Keep talking and someone's going to get hurt."

"I would say guys can't hit girls, but there aren't any guys around here now, are there?"

Jesse glares at me and raises one fist, swinging it at me. I catch it with my hand and shove it at him, causing him to stumble backward and into a trashcan.

With that, I turn and leave, exiting into the hallway.

…

My little black Volkswagen bug sits in its parking space, waiting for me. The only reason it's my car is because it only cost Aunt Liz a lot of money, and Aunt Liz loves spending money for no reason. That is why all my clothes cost over a hundred bucks.

"Hey there Volt," I mumble, as I slide into the car.

Glancing in my mirror and finding it clear for me to pull out of my parking space I put the car in reverse.

My life flashes before my eyes when I feel something collide into Volt, sending him flying into the empty space to my left. My head bangs against the driver's side window, shattering it. Shards of glass stick into my skull, causing blood to drip down my face.

A lump forms in my throat, preventing me from screaming in pain. Voices crowd around my car and I feel my door begin to give, until it falls to the ground. My seat belt is cut, and I fall into someone's arms, someone's cold, cold arms. They seem so familiar to me.

…

My eyes dart around the familiar hospital room. I look down at my hand and see a large metal needle sitting in my skin. Nausea comes over me, making me look away.

"Are you Riley Groven?"

"Do you really need to ask me that every time I come here Dr. Cullen?"

Dr. Cullen removes the needle from my hand and places a bandage over the hole. "It is just protocol. Are you still not a fan of IVs?"

I sit up on the uncomfortable hospital bed. "Well, I'm not afraid of them or anything; it's just the thought of a cold needle sitting in my skin freaks me out."

"I'm starting to wonder if you get hurt on purpose," Dr. Cullen says while he flips through a large stack of papers clipped to a clip board. "Let's see…tonsillectomy, appendectomy, stitches from the first car wreck, a twisted ankle when you were hit by a car, a cracked wrist when you fell down three flights of stairs and crashed through a window, falling two stories."

"I am not the luckiest person on Earth."

"If you ask me," Dr. Cullen says whilst he shines a light in my eyes, "you're quite lucky."

"I don't comprehend."

"You fall two stories after tumbling down three flights of stairs and crashing through a window and all that you walk away with is a cracked wrist. I have seen people walk away worse from tripping."

A smile spreads across my face and I touch the side of my head lightly, feeling the stitches. "All I had was stitches?"

"Yes ma'am. And, once again, you defied medical laws. Your pulse stayed at over one hundred and fifty beats a minute while you were unconscious."

It's true. My heart rate is extremely fast. While I'm awake doing nothing, it beats nearly three hundred times per minute. "I told you."

"I'll go get your aunt. She is pretty worried about you."

"Wait! What about my car?"

"Don't worry; my son is fixing it just like he did last time. Now I am going to go fetch your aunt."

…

"What kind of idiot gets in a car crash?" Aunt Liz asks me while I change into my usual pajamas.

"It's not my fault. That guy was speeding."

"Just be happy I'm letting you live with me. When they came to me saying that my non-blood related niece didn't have any known living relatives and I was the only person they could find, I wanted to say no. But I didn't."

Sighing, I ignore her. She is so obnoxious sometimes. "Can you give me some peace and quiet; I want to go to sleep early."

"Fine, but you better be happy that tomorrow is Saturday, because I wasn't going to drive you anywhere! One more thing, if you get in one more accident, we are moving!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The driveway seems so far away from my bedroom window. I haven't seen any sign of my car. Hopefully Volt is okay.

"Why didn't you take your car to a mechanic?"

Aunt Liz moves to stand beside me, basket of clean clothes at her side. "A mechanic costs money; Emmett works for free."

"Are you sure that's the reason? I thought it was because you wanted to see those cute Cullen boys."

All I can come up with after several minutes of thought is: "No."

"I thought you would be obsessed with them by now. Don't you like mysteries?"

A lump forms in my throat. "Not anymore."

The sound of the doorbell echoes throughout the house, causing me to look down at the driveway to see Volt sitting there good as new.

"If I were you, I would go get the door," Aunt Liz mumbles.

Taking the stairs two at a time, I make it to the front door, opening it as fast as I can, revealing a tiny, pixie-like girl. "Hi Riley, I brought your car back. Are you feeling okay?"

If I had to label someone from school as my friend, Alice would be my best friend. The only reason we know each other is because we were stuck together in History. She was nice to me and I talked to her, so it counts as something I guess.

"I feel fine. It would be better if my stitches didn't itch so much."

Alice nods and steps into the house, looking around aimlessly. "So…are you studying for the history test?"

"We have a test?"

"Yep, we have a test on the English Colonies, as if we didn't already know them from all of our other years of school."

"Umm…I guess I could study for it," I say before lowering my voice and saying, "I don't really see a need to study for something that's burned into my memory, but…"

Alice giggles. I guess I didn't lower my voice enough. "You never remember anything, but you always ace whatever is thrown at you."

How does Alice know I ace everything? "Yeah…is there anything else we have coming up that I should know about?"

"Second semester starts Monday, meaning that some of our classes change. I will be in biology, what about you?"

"I signed up for Chemistry. I would rather risk blowing up than cutting a frog in half," I say, walking into the kitchen to make lunch. "Are you hungry?"

"No…I ate on the way here. So, you're going to be in Mr. Macarthur's Chemistry?" Alice moves to stand beside me to watch as I begin to chop tomatoes, olives, spinach, and other foods that go great in leftover Alfredo pasta.

"No, I'm in Mr. Collin's Chemistry class. You know the AP one?" I cut down with the knife and feel pain shoot through my finger. Luckily, there isn't any food sitting on the cutting board to bleed on. "Oops…"

Alice stands completely still beside me, staring at my finger. "Riley, where's the bathroom?"

Without thinking, I stick my bloody finger in my mouth and point down the hallway with my free hand. Is Alice afraid of blood or something?

"Thanks…" Alice practically runs down the hallway.

My eyes drift around the room while I suck on my finger, tasting the salty, rusty flavor. The smell of blood wafts around the room. "Alice," I call, "are you okay?"

Suddenly, Alice runs past me, saying something about needing to go home.

"Hey, where's she off to?" Aunt Liz asks as she walks down the stairs.

"She had to go home."

…

Wandering aimlessly around the forest behind our house is a hobby of mine. Since I moved here, I have always enjoyed walking amongst the trees in the cold, foggy air. I sit on a fallen tree.

Today is Sunday, meaning that tomorrow I start Chemistry.

"Riley? What are you doing here?"

A hand lands on my shoulder, making me jump. "Oh, it's you, Jake. Been awhile, hasn't it."

Jake sits down on the old log beside me. "So, Riley, how are you?"

"I've been better."

"I'm really sorry about what happened. Your parents I mean."

My eyes begin to tear at the memory. "Let's not talk about that Jake."

"Okay," he mumbles, pulling me against his chest in a hug.

Everything in the forest is silent. "Jake?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"You remember that scary story that your dad would always tell us when we were little?"

Jake laughs. "How can I forget? You would always start crying when you heard it. And then it would be the middle of the night and you would wake me up saying that you had a nightmare. Every time you did that, you wouldn't leave me alone until I told you that you could stay in my room."

"It's not my fault that it scared me. On top of it, you would say that the cold ones would come and get me in my sleep!" I push away from him and stand, stomping my foot like a little kid while I talk.

"You haven't grown up at all," Jake says, standing up and moving to embrace me in another hug.

I smile up at him. "You know, we are the same age despite the fact I'm ahead of you a year in school."

"You're birthday is in June, right?"

"Yep," I mumble.

"I need to get you a birthday present now, don't I?"

"Yep," I say with a smile. "You owe me two over-fifty-dollar birthday presents."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Walking into Chemistry tardy on Monday was something I had thought wouldn't change anything in my life, but seeing Edward Cullen sitting at the only lab table with a free seat made my heart beat even faster than usual.

Ever since I started here at Forks High School in November, I have been drawn to Edward Cullen on a dangerous level. Whether it was due to the mystery surrounding him or just the fact he is very attractive with his bronze hair and golden eyes, I am not ready to risk everything I have for an unsolved mystery, nor a boy.

"You're tardy on the first day of Chemistry, Ms. Groven? You need to take your seat beside Mr. Cullen," Mr. Collin instructs, taking my tardy slip.

As I walk toward the lab table, I feel a sudden burst of wind hit me from the fan in the corner, blowing my hair around my face. Edward Cullen raises his hand to his face. He thinks I smell?

I slide onto my lab stool, pushing my hair back behind my ear so I can silently watch Edward out of the corner of my eye. My self-conscious side takes over when I see that he still has his hand over his face. I sniff the collar of my sweater. I don't smell bad, I smell like honey lavender.

"Okay everyone, we are going to start off this semester with a video about," Mr. Collin says, pausing for dramatic effect, "cells!"

The TV in the corner flickers to life showing cells dividing and such. I watch Edward Cullen instead of the video.

Edward Cullen shifts away from me in his seat, gripping the edge of the lab table, his knuckles turning whiter than they already were. My eyes travel to his face, looking at his eyes. His eyes are dark, near black.

A shiver runs down my spine and my pulse slows, warning me. I pull my eyes away from Edward Cullen, silently sliding my stool in the opposite direction of him, remaining at a distance for the rest of class.

…

The rest of the week goes by in a blur. Each day I watch for Edward, but he doesn't show. Friday comes and I step into Chemistry and see Edward sitting at the table.

"I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself Monday, I'm Edward Cullen," Edward says, turning to face me.

A lump forms in my throat and my mind begins to yell at me to ignore him, but my heart tells me to talk to him. No more mysteries… "Hi, I'm Riley Groven."

"I need to apologize for my actions. I hope I didn't insult you in any way."

"Just tell me one thing. Did I smell bad?" I ask Edward.

"No, you didn't smell bad, at all. You actually smelt quite good. It is just…" Edward trails off.

I sigh and watch as Mr. Collin passes around slides with onion cells on them. "Okay everyone! I want you to correctly label the slides for what they are. Look at them and write the label beside the corresponding number on the sheet of paper at your table. Whichever group finishes first and is correct, wins a special prize."

"A golden onion," I mumble.

"A golden onion!" Mr. Collin announces.

Edward looks at me with a confused expression. "How did you know that he was going to say that?"

"I don't know," I mumble, shrugging. Truthfully, I had walked past this classroom on my first day here and they were doing this exact same experiment. All I did was glance and my memory immediately stamped it into my brain.

Edward takes the first slide from the box of slides sitting on our table and looks at it for two seconds. "Anaphase…do you want to look at…what are you doing?"

My eyes travel up from the sheet of paper we were supposed to write the answers on to look at Edward. "I'm writing the answers on the paper."

"How do you know the answers, you didn't even look at the slides?"

"I don't know…" I mumble, not wanting to tell Edward anything.

He takes the paper from me and goes through the answers, comparing them with the slides. I only finished three of the answers. "This is correct. How did you…?"

I open my mouth to say I don't know, but Edward shoots a look at me. I guess the truth is the only answer. "Fine, the truth is that I have a photographic memory. I walked past this classroom a couple months ago and they were doing this same experiment. I saw the answer sheet and the golden onion."

The corners of Edward's mouth tug up into a smile. "You're so unpredictable. When I first heard about you from Alice-"

"Alice talks about me?" I ask, cutting Edward off, while I write the final answers on the paper.

A few moments pass before Edward begins to talk again. "Sort of… She mentioned you the day you came here and after she delivered your car. I just never expected you to be anything more than what she said."

My suspicious siren goes off in my mind. "You don't know anything about me. Don't judge someone until you actually meet them."

Mr. Collin walks over to our table and examines our answers. "It looks like Mr. Cullen and Ms. Groven have won the golden onion!"

I smile at our ecstatic teacher, accepting the golden onion.

"I want to learn more about you."

"What?"

"I want to learn about you. You are hard for me to read and you're right. I shouldn't judge until I have something to judge. Tell me about you."

My eyes travel to the clock on the front wall of the classroom. We have twenty more minutes. "Well…I was obsessed with crime dramas when I was little. My parents used to say that watching those shows made me even more curious than I already was. I am naturally suspicious, I have a photographic memory, and I have a sixth sense. I get hurt constantly on accident. But…"

Edward nods as if he really cared about what I had to say. "Tell me about your parents and what do you mean 'but'?"

"The 'but' directly relates to my parents…my recently deceased ones." I don't know why I decided to tell Edward about myself. Maybe it was because I mentally said "Screw my promise to stay away from Edward", or maybe I really trust him. Who knows?

"Oh. I'm sorry."

The bells rings and I stand up with a jolt, my internal schedule not ready to be off by a second. "See you Monday, Edward."


End file.
